Drought Dries Up Lawn & Farming Equipment Sales

Berend Turf and Tractor customers haven't been calling or walking into the store as much as they used to before drought water restrictions kicked in for Texoma.

"Seventy to 80 customers, paying customers was kind of what our average was last year and this year we're averaging about 50. Forty to 50 customers," said Lee Berend, one of the co-owners.

Berend said, it's all because of the drought. "We're not able to water our grass so the grass isn't growing and that causes us to be down because people aren't buying the lawn mowers and that causes our commercial guys to be down. They're not using their equipment as much."

Berend also said, if the equipment they are using breaks down, commercial customers are certainly not looking at shiny brand new equipment. They're asking employees to repair their old equipment instead. That is boosting the revenue they get from repair services but Berend said, it's just not enough to keep his business afloat.

"As far as our business goes, it's a smaller part. Sales is what really keeps us going," said the co-owner.

In order to keep going without many sales, the shop has had to cut back on the amount of parts it keeps in stock. Also, some part-time employees chose to leave and for the time being, Berend is not filling up those positions to save money.